Burglary suspects walk across building ledge seven stories up to avoid arrest, police say
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- Four suspects tried escaping through a seventh-floor balcony as Burbank police served a search warrant, but were found on a neighbor’s balcony.
- The suspects are believed to be part of a South American theft group.
- Police recovered jewelry, cash, foreign currency and signs the suspects were making “pink cocaine” in a blender.
It was a scene so unusual the cops had to stop and take a picture.
In downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, police investigating a string of residential burglaries happened upon their suspects as they tried to make a daring escape.
When officers searched a seventh-floor apartment and stepped out onto the apartment balcony, there they found their suspects — huddled and trying to stay out of view on a neighboring balcony.
“Detectives quickly realized that the four suspects ... tight roped across a narrow ledge to a neighboring apartment balcony!” Burbank police wrote on Instagram, sharing a picture of the men crouched below the balcony railing with a label saying “Suspects” and an arrow pointing down at them.
Burbank investigators had been working a burglary case from June that led them to serve a search warrant to the downtown L.A. apartment in the 600 block of North Figueroa Street, the department said.
In the end, authorities arrested Jorge Andres Ayala Morales, 25; Miguel Ubate Ayala, 21; Natalia Lorena Ramirez Lopez, 21; Angelica Ramirez Hoyos, 23; Daniel Gamba Rodriguez, 27; Daniel Felipe Sastre Mesa, 28, all from Los Angeles County. Authorities initially said they suspected the group was part of a South American theft ring, which are well documented in the area.
In the last few years, groups of foreign nationals have been traveling to the U.S. on tourist visas, then breaking into homes in affluent neighborhoods in what police call “burglary tourism.” These crews use rental properties as their bases of operation and use highly sophisticated methods to gain entry into homes, including using jamming devices to interfere with security surveillance equipment that use Wi-Fi signals and surveillance cameras to monitor residents’ routines.
Inside the unit, detectives found jewelry, cash and handbags. They also seized three vehicles. Images shared by police show several pairs of shoes, multiple forms of foreign currency and a blender used to make “pink cocaine” next to empty baggies. Authorities said the items confirmed the suspects’ connection to five burglaries in Burbank, Monterey Park and Chino Hills.
The case started in June when someone broke into a home in the 700 block of East Orange Grove Avenue in Burbank, according to police. Then there was another burglary in Monterey Park. A vehicle seen on surveillance footage in the area of both burglaries led police to a break in the case.
The same vehicle was spotted on Oct. 2 driving through Monterey Park. Detectives followed the vehicle and watched the suspects commit a burglary. When they tried to get away, police stopped them. Two of the four suspects detained during that traffic stop were also linked to the downtown apartment bust, according to authorities.
In an unrelated case in May, seven Colombian nationals were arrested in Arizona in connection to home break-ins in Burbank and other Southern California cities. The suspects were linked to burglaries in California, Oregon and Washington.
Scottsdale Police Officer Aaron Bolin said one of the female members of the group used a dog as part of the group’s cover, walking a stolen French bulldog to blend in with the neighborhood while acting as a lookout.
The bulldog was taken by the group during a burglary in California and was among the stolen items recovered, according to Scottsdale police.
Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.
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